


Rebellion

by PrettyCalypso



Series: The Chronicles of Ian & Kira [9]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: AU, Additional Tags Might Be Added, Car Accident, Daddy Ian, Daddy Mickey, Discussion of Abortion, Hospitals, M/M, Minor Injuries, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-16 00:18:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7244599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyCalypso/pseuds/PrettyCalypso
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ian and Mickey have to deal with a runaway toddler and a rebellious teenager.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bedtime and partying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had an entire part of this story based on a blood donation plot line, but then I learned that gay men can't actually give their blood in the US, even when they're perfectly healthy. This is fucked up, just sayin'.  
> EDIT: Okay, so apparently we have the same law in France, but it's being changed starting July 10, 2016 (in France, not in the US). Yay for that!

 

“The fuck is she?” Ian almost shouted to his husband, who just raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders in desperation.

 

“I don't know man, she keeps running around. I took my eyes off her for five seconds and she was gone.”

 

Ian sighed and searched all over the living room. Their house wasn't big, it shouldn't have been that hard to find a mischievous runaway toddler. The redhead looked back at Mickey who was now in the difficult process of moving the couch, just in case Elena would have had the great idea of hiding behind it once again. Suddenly, he heard giggling coming from somewhere near the ficus next to the kids' bathroom. Ian made a 'shush' sign to Mickey, who froze in his spot, and the redhead walked slowly toward the hallway, like a hunter chasing his pray. The plant moved, and just as the little girl tried to run in the general direction of Yevgeny's bedroom, Ian caught her and held her tight. Elena laughed, and tried to waggle her way out of her father's arms, but he was, fortunately, still stronger than her.

 

“Come on Ellie, you have to go to bed now.”

 

“Noooo!!!!”

 

The girl kicked some more, and Ian locked her in his arms as best as he could.

 

“Yes, you are. And don't even try to cry your way out of it.”

 

“You just say that cause you can't resist her when she cries.” Mickey snickered from behind his husband.

 

Ian gave him that face he invented to replace giving his husband the finger in front of their very behavior-absorbing toddler.

 

“It's the eyes. I can't resist these big blue eyes.” Ian said, even though both Mickey and Ellie already knew that piece of information and how to use it pretty well.

 

The little girl laughed again, until she saw her bed coming into sight.

 

“No.” she repeated. “No, no, no.”

 

“Yes, yes, yes.” Ian replied, putting her down on the mattress. “You're gonna have a good night sleep, and NOT wake up your daddy and me in the middle of the night. Understood?”

 

Elena pouted for a bit, but ultimately nodded in front of her father's serious face and frowned eyebrows.

 

“And don't wake up Kira either. Or Yevgeny.” Ian added, and the girl whined. “Ellie...” he warned, and the girl hid herself under her blanket. “Promise me.”

 

She mumbled something, her face buried in her sheets decorated with flowers and butterflies.

 

“I didn't hear that.” Ian demanded, taking the blanket off so he could meet his daughter's diabolical eyes.

 

“I pwomise, Daddy.” Elena finally said.

 

“Good.” Ian smiled. “Now lie down correctly. Under the sheet, like that. Good.”

 

The girl obeyed her father and he pulled the blanket up, covering her little body for the night, before dropping a sweet kiss on her forehead.

 

“Good night sweetie.”

 

Mickey followed his husband, also wishing Elena good night and kissing her the same way. The two men were already near the door of the bedroom, turning the lights off, when the girl's small voice resonated in the darkness.

 

“Wead a stowy?” she asked.

 

“We already read you one.” Ian sighed.

 

“It's too late for tonight.” Mickey added. “You need to sleep now.”

 

And he pulled the door, not totally closing it so that some light from the hallway could come peering into the room. Once in their own bedroom, Ian dropped heavily onto the bed.

 

“I'm so tired.” he exhaled as his head pushed into the pillow. “This girl is exhausting...”

 

“Are you too tired for me?” Mickey asked with a devilish grin, climbing on top of his husband and starting to kiss his face and neck.

 

“I'm never too tired for you.” Ian whispered in the brunet's ear, before biting the lobe lightly.

 

“Huuum...” Mickey responded, his mouth trailing kisses along the redhead's jawline and collarbone, and his hands sliding under his shirt, caressing Ian's chest. “We should take this off.” he mumbled, tugging on the green fabric, but made no move to join actions to his words.

 

“We should.” Ian answered, being himself too busy by playing with Mickey's hair with one hand, and stroking his spine with the other.

 

The black-haired man slipped a couple of fingers between the waistband of his husband's sweatpants and the skin of his hips. And Ian's phone rang.

 

“Don't answer.” Mickey groaned, tugging on the redhead's pants more firmly.

 

Ian moaned and arched his back to help his husband in his task.

 

“Wasn't going to.”

 

But the phone kept ringing, and ringing, the person on the other side of the line calling a second time, and then a third.

 

“Oh for fuck's sake!” Mickey cried out, sitting back on his heels while Ian reached on the bedside table to grab his phone.

 

“It's Yevgeny.” the redhead read out loud. “Why is he calling me?”

 

“Because he did something stupid.” Mickey breathed out, running a hand on his face. “You're the good cop, I'm the bad cop, and Svetlana's the fucking KGB.”

 

“I'm sure it's nothing.” Ian said. “He's a nice kid.”

 

“Oh yeah? So why did you lend him _my_ car and not yours?”

 

“Because he didn't want to go to the party with a dad car, it's not cool. You still have a bachelor car.”

 

Mickey hinted a small smile and shook his head. _Kids..._ Ian chuckled, and finally took the call.

 

“Hey Yev. What's up? Party's already over?”

 

“I'm sorry.” the teenage boy sobbed through the phone. “I'm so sorry. I tried to stop her, but she was drunk, she wasn't listening to me, she just took the keys from me and... I'm sorry...”

 

“Wait, slow down.” Ian asked, moving his legs so he was now sitting on the edge of the bed. “What's going on?”

 

“Kira.” Yevgeny started to explain. “She was drunk, she took the car keys from me, and she drove us into a ditch, or a tree, I don't know... I'm sorry.”

 

“Yevgeny.” Ian articulated, trying to stay as calm as possible. “It's okay. Tell me where you are.”

 

“”We just arrived at the hospital. I try to call you when I woke up in the ambulance, but they didn't want me to. I had to wait until they finished checking me up, and I think they called the cops, I don't know...”

 

“Okay.” Ian said between two long breaths. “Calm down. We'll be there soon. Okay?”

 

The boy managed to answer a weak “Okay.” between two sobs, and hung up. Ian raised his head to meet his husband's worried eyes.

 

“We need to go to the hospital. I think the kids were in a car accident, I didn't understand everything Yevgeny told me.”

 

“Okay.” Mickey nodded. “I guess I'll wake up Ellie. Hopefully she'll fall back asleep in the car.”

 

********

 

Ian and Mickey arrived in the ER only twenty minutes later – thankfully there weren't a lot of traffic at this time of night – with Elena half asleep in her stroller. They found Yevgeny in the waiting room, a few bruises and cuts on his face, but looking overall okay. Mickey took his son in a quick, tight hug, before releasing him and examining his face.

 

“Shit. What happened?”

 

The boy shook his head, ans started crying again.

 

“Is Kira okay?”

 

“I don't know.” Yevgeny finally managed to articulate. “I woke up, but she didn't. And she looked so...”

 

Ian took a shaky breath and made his way toward the counter where a busy-looking nurse barely noticed him.

 

“Excuse me?” he tried to call her, speaking louder than normal. “My daughter has been admitted here not too long ago after a car accident...”

 

“What's your name, sir?” the nurse asked, searching through the files she was holding.

 

“Gallagher. My daughter is Kira. She has long light brown hair, she was wearing... I don't know what she was wearing. She was with her brother, the kid back there, near the stroller.”

 

The nurse looked at Yevgeny being comforted by his father, before raising her head to meet Ian's eyes.

 

“Yes, the two kids in the car accident, I remember them.” she answered.

 

“Is she okay?”

 

The nurse looked through her file again.

 

“Yes, she's fine. Just a possible concussion and a few broken bones. No need for surgery, for now. But I need a few more information.”

 

“Yes, sure.” Ian nodded, slightly relieved.

 

“Is she allergic to any medication?”

 

“Not that I'm aware of.”

 

“Is she taking any medical treatment?”

 

“No.”

 

“Not even birth control?”

 

Ian's mouth gaped open. _Shit._ Was Kira on birth control? How could he have never consider the idea? She was still his baby. His 17 years old baby... Who never talked to him about these stuff. Maybe Riley knew. Or even Fiona, or Debbie, or Svetlana, or Mandy... Shit, Ian felt so clueless right now.

 

“I... don't know...” he stuttered.

 

“It's okay.” the nurse smiled too condescendingly for Ian's taste, and read the next line on her file. “We need to talk about possible blood transfusion.” she added. “Your daughter has been tested O. What is your blood type?”

 

“AB.” Ian answered.

 

The nurse made a face.

 

“Oh. Okay. How old was she when you adopted her?”

 

“We didn't adopt her.”

 

“It's just that... A parent with AB blood can't possibly have an O child...”

 

Ian sighed. This nurse was really starting to piss him off with with her judgmental tone and fake smiles.

 

“I know the truth about whatever you're implying here.” he stated, exasperated. “But can you just not tell Kira please?”

 

“Of course not.” the nursed smiled again. _Bitch._

 

“Can I give still give her blood?”

 

“No, I'm sorry, you won't be compatible. We need another O.”

 

“I am.” Mickey chipped in.

 

Ian hadn't seen him coming, but was relieved his husband was here to back him up.

 

“I'm sorry, who are you in relationship to Miss Gallagher?” the nurse asked, taking a few notes on her pad.

 

“I'm her step-father,” Mickey answered. “Ian's husband.”

 

“Oh.” the nurse raised her eyes from the file, surprised, and looking finally slightly embarrassed. “I'm very sorry but you can't give blood, either of you actually. Homosexual men are not allowed to donate blood in the US.”

 

“This is bullshit.” Mickey spat.

 

“I'm sorry, I don't make the rules. It's in the law.”

 

Ian sensed his husband was about to reply something not polite, so he put a soothing hand on his arm, and addressed the nurse directly.

 

“Kira's mom is coming all the way from Michigan, she'll be there in the morning, she'll probably be compatible. Can I see my daughter in the meantime?”

 

The nurse agreed and gave Ian the number of the room Kira was in. As he made his way there, the redhead took out his phone and dialed Riley's number. He hadn't wanted to call her before seeing Kira, knowing Riley would have freaked out and accuse Ian of being responsible of the accident. Which wasn't entirely false, Ian had indeed let their daughter go to that party, and he had let the car to the kids, but he had thought they were old and wise enough to make good decisions – which was apparently asking too much from two seventeen-year-old.

 

Kira was looking slightly worse than Yevgeny, maybe because she was lying on a hospital bed and had one leg and one arm in a cast. Ian had just put one foot in the room when he was called by a doctor.

 

“Are you Kira's father?” the plump woman with a disheveled ponytail asked.

 

Ian nodded, and the woman frowned her eyebrows and tilted her head, giving the impression of actual concern for Kira's health, in opposition to the nurse.

 

“I need to talk to you about the amount of alcohol we found in your daughter's blood when she came in.”

 


	2. Hospitals and confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter than the first one, but there are quite a few heavy stuff so yeah...

 

Kira had been drunk, Yevgeny had said so, and the doctor had confirmed it. Ian wasn't surprised his daughter had been drinking alcohol at a party, he wasn't pleased but he was expecting that much, she was a seventeen-year-old American teenager after all. He was surprised though that Kira had drunk so much she had crashed a car she wasn't even supposed to drive in the first place. The redhead thought his daughter was a reasonable teenager who made wise choices, but apparently she was entering this 'rebellious' phase Ian had hoped he could avoid.

 

He re-entered the room just as Kira opened her eyes. He sat in the chair near her bed and took her hand in his.

 

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

 

“Not good.” the girl replied with a dry mouth.

 

“Yeah, drinking so much that you end up in the hospital will do that to you.”

 

Kira stared at her father, unimpressed, and turned her head away from him.

 

“I want to sleep.” she whispered before closing her eyes, and taking her hand away from Ian's.

 

The redhead sighed but let her, sitting more comfortably in his chair.

 

********

 

The next time Kira opened her eyes, Ian was still there. He had spent the last few hours watching her sleep peacefully, not being able to rest himself, accepting the occasional coffee Mickey was bringing him. The teenager looked at her father for a second, before her eyes drifted to something – someone – behind his shoulder.

 

“Mom!”

 

Ian yawned and turned around to see Riley standing in the doorway.

 

“Hey.” he said, sitting straighter in his chair. “I didn't hear you come in.”

 

“I just arrived.” the woman supplied, walking to her daughter's bed and hugging her as best as she could with the cast and tubes in the way.

 

“You can go now.” Kira told her father. “Go back to your husband and baby.”

 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 

“Nothing.” the girl mumbled.

 

“Kira.” Ian sighed.

 

“Go home, dad. Mom is here, I'm good.”

 

“You should go have some sleep.” Riley added, resting a gentle hand on Ian's arm.

 

The redhead looked between Kira and her mother for a couple more seconds, but he knew he needed to leave them alone for a few hours, they weren't seeing each other that often after all.

 

“I'll be back this afternoon.” he informed them as he stood up and exited the room.

 

He found Mickey in the waiting room, asleep, his head resting against the wall, and Elena snuggled on his chest, asleep as well – Svetlana had came by a few hours earlier to pick up Yevgeny. Ian woke his husband up softly.

 

“Let's go home.”

 

“What about Kira?” Mickey mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

 

“Riley's here. They kinda threw me out. Let's just go sleep in our bed, and I'll come back later today.”

 

“Okay.” Mickey simply answered, picking up on his husband's grumpy mood, but choosing not to say anything about it, Riley was always making him tense anyway.

 

Ian didn't talk for the entire way home, where he let Mickey put Elena back in bed. The black-haired man entered their bedroom to find Ian already lying under their blanket, eyes wide open, looking up at the ceiling.

 

“You okay?” Mickey asked as he climbed in bed.

 

“Yeah.” Ian answered with a little smile, opening his arms to welcome his husband against his chest. “Just exhausted. And pissed at Riley for never being here and always making me the bad parent by default.”

 

“You're not a bad parent.” Mickey whispered, dropping a small kiss on Ian's cheek.

 

“I know, it's just that Riley is never here for the bad times, so every time Kira sees her she thinks her mother is so cool and perfect. She would have probably let Kira go to that party too, but because Kira did that very stupid thing during her time with me, I'm the guilty one, the irresponsible parent who let his daughter drink and drive...”

 

“You're not a bad parent.” Mickey repeated, more definitive this time. “What happened wasn't your fault. Kira is a teenager who experiments stupid shit, like every other teenager on this planet. You did absolutely nothing wrong by letting her go to that party, it was a Saturday night, she had a curfew and she was just celebrating the end of the school year with some kids from her class – kids you know from teaching them all year long, and their parents were supposed to be around. You trusted Kira like any good parent would have done because she never gave you anything to worry about. And now she broke that trust, one time. You'll punish her, she'll hopefully understand, and that's it.”

 

********

 

“Okay baby.” Riley said one last time, kissing her daughter's forehead. “I really have to go, I'm working tomorrow morning. Call me.”

 

Kira smiled and nodded, and Riley left the room with a little wave of her fingers. Ian was about to let her go with only a nod of the head when he remembered something, and caught up with her in the hallway.

 

“Hey Riley!” he exclaimed, taking a few seconds to find the perfect way to express himself without appearing even more irresponsible. “Do you know if Kira takes birth control? She won't talk to me about these stuff and I don't know how to ask without her telling me it's none of my business.”

 

“Yes, she does.” Riley smiled, looking more comprehensive that Ian had hoped for. “I forced her to after the abortion.”

 

Ian's heart stopped in his chest at the word. Only for a second, but it still hurt.

 

“After what?”

 

Riley seemed honestly confused, and also slightly pissed off.

 

“She told me you knew. Kira swore to me that you knew, that she told you.”

 

“Our daughter had an abortion?” Ian repeated, his voice low, the words feeling heavy on his tongue. “I didn't even know she had sex! She never talks to me about... Oh my god! When did this happen?”

 

“About three months ago.” Riley said. “Right before she quit Lacrosse.”

 

“She quit Lacrosse?” Ian almost shouted. “Oh the fuck do I not know any of these stuff?!”

 

“I'm starting to wonder the same thing.” Riley exclaimed, her voice also rising. “Do you not talk to our daughter? Is she even on your radar?”

 

“Of fucking course she is Riley! But there are five of us at home, I have a full-time job, we have a toddler to take care of, and Kira spends all of her time out with her friends or in her bedroom, having a fucking conversation is not easy, believe me!”

 

“Well maybe you should try harder!”

 

Ian was about to shout something back, although he didn't really know what yet, but a nurse interrupted them with a disapproving frown on her face.

 

“Sir, Ma'am, please lower your voices, you're in a hospital.”

 

“Sorry.” Ian mumbled.

 

“I need to go anyway.” Riley sighed. “You're not the only one with a full-time job. Also, I told Kira she could come spend the entire summer with me, and I'm starting to think we might all really need it.”

 

Ian looked down at the floor and shook his head. _Fuck._ If yesterday had made him feel like a bad parent, today had just pushed him off the cliff. He thought he knew his daughter, but turned out Kira had been living her life, carrying heavy stuff for the past few months, and he hadn't even noticed something was off. He looked up from the floor to meet Kira's eyes. The girl was still in her hospital bed, and when she sent an apologetic smile to her father, Ian knew she had heard the entire shouting contest he and Riley had just participated in. He walked toward her, and sat on the chair.

 

“Why didn't you tell me?”

 

“I don't know.” Kira shrugged. “You're always so busy taking care of Elena, she always has something: her temperature is a little too high, or she has a suspicious rash...”

 

“I worry about her because...”

 

“Because you almost lost her before she was even born, I know. But now you almost lost me too, so maybe you'll be more careful...”

 

“Is that why you took the car? You wanted me to pay attention to you?”

 

Kira shrugged again, and a tear rolled on her cheek.

 

“I don't know. I don't know why I did what I did last night, I know it was stupid. I even knew it while I was doing it, I wasn't even that drunk. I just... I don't know...”

 

Ian watched his daughter cry, and barely held back his own tears. He reached for Kira's hand, and she let him stroke it slowly.

 

“I love you Kira. I love you just as much as Elena. And I'm sorry I wasn't more present for you lately...”

 

“You love her a little bit more.” the teenager said between two sobs.

 

“No, I don't.”

 

“You do. Because she's your real daughter and I'm not.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short, but it got me more emotional than I had anticipated, so I stopped early before I completely lost it.


	3. Conversation and memories

 

And another stab to Ian's heart. He wanted to deny it, scream at the top of his lungs from the roof of the hospital that Kira was his real daughter, but he couldn't do that anymore, he knew Kira wasn't making this up from thin air. So he settled for:

 

“What makes you think that?”

 

“The way you look at her, there is something more, she's your flesh and blood. You never looked at me like that. Plus, I don't look anything like you. I don't have your eyes, or your hair, my skin is slightly darker, I don't have freckles, and even my face, I mean I could have at least, if not you, look like one of your siblings, but no, I have absolutely no Gallagher in me. And the story of my conception was always so blurry...”

 

“How long have you known?”

 

“I've always noticed I look more like mom than you, but I guess I really started seeing it when Elena was born. At first I thought it wouldn't change anything, but it did. I know you love me, but it's different.”

 

_It doesn't change anything_ , Ian wanted to say. He wanted Kira to understand, to beg her, to make her see that no matter what, she was still his daughter. But he didn't have time to do any of that, as the doctor walked in the room, and announced to the duo that the teenager was ready to be released. And they didn't continue the conversation in the car, it was just awkward silence and the sound of Kira texting her friends. They didn't talk at home either, because Ian didn't find one second to be alone with his eldest daughter. Until he decided to make the time. He walked into the girls' room and grabbed a random book out of the shelf above Elena's bed.

 

“Hey Ellie.” he said to the little girl who was tugging on the hair of her favorite doll, handing her the book. “Why don't you go ask Yevy to read you a story?”

 

The girl nodded and smiled, before taking the book and running out of the room. Ian closed the door behind her and turned to Kira, who was silently sitting on her own bed, looking at something on her phone.

 

“Can we talk?” Ian asked, and Kira raised her head.

 

“Yeah.” she said, putting her phone aside.

 

Ian went to sit on the edge of the bed, trying to keep a safe distance, he didn't want to crowd the girl and having her push him away.

 

“You're my daughter.” he said simply. “You've always been my daughter, from the moment you were born, to now. I always worry about you, I want you to be safe, and happy. I raised you, I changed your diapers, I woke up in the middle of the night when you were having a nightmare, I was there for your first kiss and your first heartbreak, I was there for your first day of school, your first good grade, your first bad grade, I never missed any of your Lacrosse games, or school talent show. I taught you to walk, to speak, to ride a bike, to swim, to drive. You're my daughter. And yes, I admit it, maybe a DNA test would tell us the contrary, and I'm very sorry I never told you, but it doesn't change anything to me. You're my daughter because your mother wanted me to be your father. You're my daughter because I was the first person, apart from the doctor, to ever hold you in my arms. You're my daughter because I was there, from the very beginning, for the good times as well as the bad times. And I know I might have neglected you a little since Elena's birth, but that doesn't mean I love you less, it's just that a baby needs a lot of attention, and you were a responsible teenager, I figured I could let you live your life a little, that you didn't need me as much. I'm sorry if my judgment was wrong on this, but I'm here for you, I've always been, and I will always be here for you.”

 

Ian took a deep breath, and he saw his daughter swallow a few tears back. He felt very emotional himself, but he also knew he wasn't going to cry, because all the things he had just said weren't new to him, as they appeared to be to Kira, they were obvious things that had always been there. He just realized he had never say them out loud to his daughter, but he had never felt he needed to before this week-end.

 

“Who...” Kira started, hesitantly, not looking at Ian, but fixing her eyes somewhere on the pattern of her sheets. “Who's my real father?”

 

The redhead inhaled deeply. He thought for a second that maybe Kira should have this conversation with her mother, but then remembered she was asking him now while she could have asked Riley numerous times during her period of doubt concerning his paternity.

 

“His name is Steve. He was a guy your mother fell in love with in high school. Not a really good guy.”

 

“And he didn't want me?” Kira asked, her voice broken.

 

“I don't think he knows you exist.” Ian confessed, fully aware that his explanations weren't making a lot of sense without a few crucial details.

 

“Why? Where is he? And why mom chose you and not him? You're gay, I'm sure you never even slept with her! Did she like... make you believe you did?”

 

“No,” Ian chuckled. “I've always known the truth. Your mother just knew she was going to get arrested and send to jail not long after your birth, so she choose to give you a father who would care, who would love you, and be there for you. And Steve was not that guy, he was the reason she went to prison.”

 

“So, he was in jail too? Both my parents?”

 

“Both sides of your DNA, yes.”

 

“Is he still in prison?”

 

Ian shook his head slightly in a confession of ignorance.

 

“I think so. Last time I heard – which was almost eighteen years ago – he was sentenced to life.”

 

“What did he do?” Kira asked, barely above a whisper, like she already had an idea but wanted confirmation.

 

Ian took another deep breath, it wasn't easy to tell his daughter her sperm donor was a convicted criminal with several murder charges on his belt.

 

“He dealt drugs, probably took some too. He robbed several stores, and ATMs. And he... he killed two people, maybe more, I don't know.”

 

A new tear rolled on Kira's cheek, and the girl stared blankly into space. Ian decided to give her some time, let the silence take over while the truth settled in his daughter. He looked at her casts, one arm and one leg, at her beautiful hair tightened in a messy bun, at the Lacrosse jersey she was wearing. He thought about a younger Kira running around the house, waking him up so early in the morning, excited about her birthday, insisting on dressing herself with mixed-matched clothes, a very forward seven-year-old Kira _'in love'_ with a shy, grumpy seven-year-old Yevgeny. And Ian smiled, he knew it might be seen as inappropriate considering the moment his daughter and him were in, but he couldn't help himself. Kira's next question broke his little bubble of happy memories though.

 

“What did she keep me? Mom? She was barely older than me, most likely going to prison, pregnant of a drug-dealer murderer... I would have... I wouldn't have kept the baby in her situation.”

 

“Your mother and you are very different people Kira. And I think this is a question you should ask her, I can't answer that.”

 

The teenager nodded slowly, going back into her stupor, and Ian thought her words over, seeing here an opportunity to talk about another subject he wanted to address.

 

“And what about your situation? You didn't keep the baby, so what was your situation?”

 

“It wasn't a baby.” Kira spat back, her voice slightly broken once again. “It was a fetus. Just a few cells.”

 

“Okay.” Ian agreed. “You didn't keep the fetus. But what's the story here? What happened?”

 

Kira closed her eyes for a second, and when she re-opened them, she finally looked at her father.

 

“It was stupid.” she started. “There was this guy – but I won't tell you who because you know everyone in school, and I don't want you to even think about doing anything to him.”

 

Ian nodded. He couldn't promise he wouldn't think about kicking the guy's ass, but he would respect his daughter's wish and not act on it.

 

“Anyway, I had this big crush on him.” Kira continued. “And he made a move on me at a party. I was so excited, and so blinded by my feelings that when he told me he didn't have a condom I didn't care... And then he just ignored me the next day, and the day after that I saw him making out with another girl. So when I realized I was... pregnant, I didn't even hesitate, I knew I didn't want this baby. I'm seventeen, I'm still in high school, I want to get my degree, and go to college, I don't want to be a teen mom, I saw too many of them at school dropping out. And because I needed a parent to come with me at the clinic, I told mom, and I told her you knew. I guess I was mad at you, and maybe kinda blaming you a little...”

 

Ian nodded again. He was blaming himself too at this moment, he hadn't been able to protect his baby girl. But his baby girl was tough, and determinate, and she seemed to have handle the situation quite well.

 

“Was it your first time?” he couldn't help himself to ask.

 

“Dad!”

 

“I just want to know where you're at...”

 

Kira shook her head with a little laugh.

 

“No, it wasn't my first time.” she said.

 

“Oh.”

 

Ian hadn't expected that answer.

 

“Who...”

 

“I don't want to talk about it anymore.”

 

“Just promise me you're safe.”

 

“Yes. I'm using a condom now. Every time.” – Ian cringed at the words. – “And mom practically forces the pill down my throat.”

 

_At least one thing Riley did right in this whole_ _story_ , Ian thought. Yes, he was angry at her right now, but he felt entitled to, she had been a very selfish mother lately. The only comfort he could find was that Kira hadn't apparently felt safe enough to ask her the truth about her conception and her _'real father'_ , so maybe that meant that Ian still had an important place in Kira's life, he hadn't quite loose that 'first parent' spot yet.

 


	4. Date night and babysitting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said in the notes of my other multichap, I have started a new job recently, so I'm less available to write and post, sorry.

 

“Yeah, sure. Don't worry, I understand.”

 

Ian ended the call, before sighing and running a hand down his face. He threw his phone down on the bed, next to where his husband sat, all dressed up in a nice button-up shirt and tight black jeans.

 

“Mandy can't do it. Nor can Svetlana, they're going on some kind of date, I don't really know...”

 

Mickey nodded his head.

 

“Okay then, we have to cancel.”

 

“Mick, we can't the cancel the only date we've been able to plan in months – not to say years.”

 

“Ian, the babysitter canceled, and with the both of us combined we have a huge ass family but none of them can make it. I'm not one to believe in faith, but that sure feels like it.”

 

The redhead sat next to his husband and took his hand. _Fuck._ They hadn't been able to have an entire night to themselves since Ellie was born, they quickly fucked whenever they had time and weren't too tired, but all romance had flied off the window a while ago. And tonight, they had managed to find a good babysitter, they had reserved a table in a nice restaurant downtown, they had the whole night planned, but Rachel suddenly had the flu, the fucking flu!

 

“We'll find another night.” Mickey murmured, pressing his forehead against Ian's temple, and stroking his hand lightly with his thumb.

 

The redhead nodded, and turned his head to peck Mickey's lips. The kiss was quick and chaste, and soon the redhead was back on his feet.

 

“Alright then, I'm gonna go give Ellie her bath.”

 

He sighed again, and left the room just as Mickey threw himself back on the bed, defeated. Ian found his younger daughter playing calmly in her bedroom with his older daughter. Yevgeny was out with some friends tonight, but Kira had been grounded – after her little stunt at the party a few weeks ago – for two months. Her casts were off by now, she just needed to keep her left arm in a sling for a few more days. She had opened up more to the family, and especially to Ian, since their conversation. Maybe it was because of that conversation, or because she had been injured thanks to her teenage bullshit, or because she had been confined at home for the past three weeks, but in any case she was more talkative and Ian appreciated it. Kira had even confessed to her father that she missed Lacrosse. She had quit impulsively – and mostly in a spirit of general rebellion – and regretted it. It was unfortunately too late now to finish the season, especially because of her injury, but she had sworn she'd find a team in college.

 

Ian walked up to his girls, he hated to interrupted them in what looked like an intense conversation about the hair of Ellie's dolls, but he had to if he wanted the toddler in bed by eight.

 

“Come on Ellie, it's time for your bath.”

 

Of course the girl pouted, and crossed her arms.

 

“No.” she said – because it was the only word she knew these days.

 

“Aren't you and Mickey suppose to go out tonight?” Kira asked, grabbing a few dolls with her good hand to put them away.

 

“We were.” Ian explained. “But the babysitter canceled on us, and nobody else can come.”

 

“I can do it.” Kira stated, like it was obvious.

 

Ian hesitated. He didn't want to appear like the father who didn't trust his daughter, but, let's honest, he was still learning to trust her again.

 

“I don't know Kira.”

 

“Dad, I'm almost 18. I can take care of my baby sister. You were going to pay a 12-year-old girl to do it.”

 

“Rachel is 14. Plus, she has experience. You've never been alone with Ellie since she was born.”

 

Kira rolled her eyes.

 

“I'm with her every day. I've gave her bath a few times when you or Mickey were in the kitchen cleaning dishes or whatever. I know when her bedtime is, and she listens to me when I ask her to do something. I can do this. And I promise I'll call you if even the slightest thing feels wrong.”

 

“That's a very good idea Kira.” Mickey's voice suddenly said. “Thanks for suggesting it.”

 

Ian turned around to frown at his husband standing by the door of the bedroom, but the brunet just nodded his head to the side, silently asking Ian for a sidebar.

 

“We should let Kira do this.” Mickey whispered as Ian joined him in the hallway. “She hasn't done anything wrong since the accident, and she's trying to show you that she's responsible. Plus, it's the first time she suggested to take care of Ellie, she's not resenting her anymore, they're actually bonding.”

 

Ian nodded. He knew Mickey was right, of course Mickey was right, but – even if a month ago he would have let Ellie to Kira no question asked – he was still hesitant.

 

“It's just one night.” Mickey added. “We'll come back early if you want, but I'm not worried.”

 

“Okay.” Ian sighed. “You're right, I should start trusting her again. And she did suggested the idea herself, she wants to do this.”

 

He shook his head and took a deep breath. He wasn't exactly sure why he was so nervous about this.

 

“Okay Kira.” he announced, going back into the bedroom to find Ellie quietly putting her toys away under Kira's supervision. “You're gonna babysit your sister tonight.”

 

Both girls smiled, and Elena gripped her sister's leg, hugging it awkwardly. Mickey was right, it could be a good bonding experience.

 

********

 

“Give me that.”

 

Ian registered his husband's voice coming from somewhere on the other side of the table, and he looked up from the screen only for a second to send him an apologetic smile.

 

“Ian, give me the fucking phone.”

 

“But, I...”

 

The redhead looked up again to meet Mickey's deep frown and his hand, palm up, waiting for the device.

 

“What if Kira calls?”

 

“I will just put it in my pocket, if she calls I'll hear it. But you need to stop looking at it, and to start spending this evening with me. Remember me? Your husband? Isn't that why we're here in the first place?!”

 

Ian lowered his head and put his phone in his husband's hand.

 

“I know you're worried.” Mickey said, pocketing the device. “But you gotta trust her, she's gonna do fine. And maybe, in the future, we'll be able to enjoy some more alone time, thanks to Kira and her responsible self.”

 

“I know. I'm sorry.”

 

“It's okay, I get it. I'd be worried if Yevgeny was in her place.”

 

“It's crazy.” Ian smiled. “Because growing up we let Liam being babysat by pretty much anyone, even by our parents, which was really a bad call on our part. But I was just a horny teenager who needed to get laid in the most incongruous places, I didn't care about my baby brother, as long as we had someone to more or less watch him. And now I run a background check on everybody who does as much as touching Ellie...”

 

“What's the weirdest place you've done it in?” Mickey wondered, his eyes looking vaguely into space, reminiscing.

 

“Seriously? That's where you're going right now?”

 

“Hey, we're on a date. No more kid talk from now on.”

 

“Okay.” Ian laughed.

 

He thought about it for a minute, remembering his favorite fucking places from his teenage years.

 

“Probably a dark alley...” he confessed.

 

“An alley, really?” Mickey sneered. “That was every booty call for me growing up.”

 

“Maybe the freezer of the convenience store I was working in back then.” Ian finally admitted without specifying he was actually fucking his boss – not that Mickey needed to know that, and Ian had probably talked about it once or twice before anyway. “Or a fancy hotel with a sugar daddy.”

 

“Daddy phase, huh?” the black-haired man winked.

 

“Mick, we've been together for ten years, I'm sure I've mentioned it before.”

 

“True.” Mickey nodded, bringing his glass to his lips.

 

Ian smiled, looking at his husband lovingly, just because he could.

 

“What about _your_ weirdest place then?”

 

“Don't really have one.” Mickey shrugged. “As I said, it was mostly dark alleys for me. But there is one place I've always wanted to have sex in, never got the chance though...”

 

“Where?”

 

Mickey smirked.

 

“We should go after we eat.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Why not?”

 

 _Yeah, why not?_ It was their first date night in forever, and Ian wouldn't mind feeling young and carefree for an hour or two.

 

“Okay, let's do this. Where is it though?”

 

“You'll see.” Mickey grinned, just as the waiter came by their table to bring the food they had ordered.

 

********

 

From the five lights hovering the field, only two were still working and were faded enough to keep the place into a certain darkness. Mickey climbed above the fence like he was seventeen again, and Ian followed him, obediently – he was just glad he had chosen to wear jeans as well instead of those stiff dress pants he originally had his sights on.

 

“What's this place?” he finally wondered as Mickey made his way toward the dugouts.

 

“The old baseball field my Little League team played on.”

 

“Little League?”

 

“Yeah, the coach kicked me out for pissing on first base.”

 

“So, you've been thinking about this for thirty years?”

 

Mickey smiled and vaguely shrugged.

 

“It's not like I hold a grudge or anything. Well, I did for a while, but then I had more important things in my life. I just thought about it earlier, and yeah it's been a weird fantasy of mine growing up...”

 

Ian laughed and looked around. His fantasy growing up had been a stable boyfriend – hey, it was kind of a crazy kink being a gay teenager in the South Side of Chicago – but somehow it made sense that Mickey's was to fuck in the baseball field to throw a last middle finger at his old coach.

 

“So, we're doing this or what?” Mickey asked, impatient.

 

“I guess we are.” Ian shrugged.

 

“Way to keep the romance alive, Gallagher.”

 

“Have you heard how you asked me?”

 

Ian raised his eyebrows in a perfect imitation of his husband's, and both men smiled at each other, challenging. The staring contest only lasted half a minute before Mickey grabbed Ian by the belt loops and dragged him closer.

 

“Okay, come here.”

 

Ian smiled brighter and kissed his husband.

 

“You cave every time, Mick.”

 

“Don't care, it's not like I'm losing anything.”

 

********

 

Elena was an angel, Kira didn't know what her fathers were always complaining about. Okay, she did knew, she had witnessed it enough time to know that the little girl was a princess who ruled her little world and did exactly what she wanted when she wanted it. And Kira was apparently in her good books tonight, because Ellie obeyed to every and each of her orders without fighting or saying “no” once. She actually smiled in her bath, and told an extra long and complicated story about her toys to her big sister. She ate all of her dinner without arguing, even asking for more applesauce. She went to sleep after only one story, and didn't even cry for one more. And Kira was in front of the TV by 8.15pm, flicking through the channels until her parents came back, Elena lightly snoring in her very own bed.

 

The teenager settled on a channel showing _What happens in Vegas._ Ashton Kutcher didn't have a lot of charisma in this movie, but Cameron Diaz was okay enough. The movie was just starting – the two characters were drunkenly beginning to know each other. Kira stood up to go fill a bowl of ice cream in the kitchen; it was quite hard with only one good hand and she took more time than expected, coming back to the couch when Jack and Joy shared an awkward breakfast as newlyweds. The teenager's mind started to drift off a couple of minutes later when the couple was arguing about who really won the jackpot at the casino. She thought about her accident. She still wasn't sure why she did it. From the moment she took the car to the moment she woke up in the hospital, she knew it was a bad idea. But she had just done it without really thinking. She had been so angry at her father for reasons that she, now, knew weren't all entirely on him, and the strong feelings had blinded her into doing something very, very stupid. She could have died, as her parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, doctors, teachers, friends – and pretty much everybody – told her repeatedly.

 

Kira sighed, and shook her head, sticking her spoon into the bowl of melting ice cream, and trying to focus back on the movie. Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz made war and love for another good hour, in the middle of which the channel managed to throw a significant amount of commercials. The teenager didn't realize she was falling asleep, and she startled awake when she heard fumbling in the door lock. She turned the TV off – now halfway through another plainly white and straight rom com with absolutely no chemistry between the main characters – and walked to the kitchen to drop her bowl in the sink. Mickey walked past her as she turned around, shooting her a small smile and a “Good night kiddo!”, to which Kira answered with a little wave. Her father, on the other hand, stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle from the fridge that he sipped slowly. Kira leaned against the wall and observed the ruffled red hair and the clothes put back on hastily.

 

“You had sex, didn't you?” she asked with a playful smirk.

 

Ian almost choked on the liquid he was drinking. He closed the bottle and coughed awkwardly.

 

“I... uh... How did you...” He shook his head, like he just realized he didn't want to address the topic. “Anyway. How did it go with Ellie?”

 

“Good.” Kira nodded, her smirk fading away. “Very good. She was very nice, did everything I told her to. She took a bath, she ate, I read her a story and she went to bed without arguing once. She's really adorable.”

 

The teenager could discern a little jealousy in her father's eyes, but he didn't make a case of it, and just smiled broadly.

 

“That's good. Thank you for doing this Kira. I'm very happy you showed me I can trust you again.”

 

Kira returned her father's smile, and he opened his arms for her to accept the hug he was offering. It only lasted a few seconds before the teenager shoved the redhead gently away.

 

“You smell like sex and Mickey, get away from me!”

 

“Shut up, I don't.”

 

“You totally do. Just... go to bed to your husband.”

 

Ian grinned and obeyed, blowing his daughter a kiss, before locking the door of his bedroom. And if, when she went to the bathroom not so long after that, Kira heard the sound of moaning and the bed squeaking coming from the parental bedroom, she just covered her ears as well as she could with only one arm, and never mentioned it again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ellie is like my baby brother: when he's with his parents his favorite word is “no” and he communicates mainly by crying and arguing with what he's told to do; but when he's with me he does everything I ask, eat all his food, etc. etc. It's crazy!  
> Also, my father and his wife are in their 40s and 50s, have been together for 15 years, and still fuck like rabbits, it's horrible to hear, I empathize with Kira on that one.
> 
> On another note, this series was supposed to be over after that, but I've been sent two great prompts, so yay for that, and please keep them coming. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and/or comments. And you can also send me prompts here, or on my [tumblr](http://ilostmylifeonline.tumblr.com/), and I'll write them... sooner or later. ;)


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